Abstract

Taken from Introduction: Disasters have a major impact on the living conditions of the population, the economic performance of the countries or regions affected, and on environmental assets and services, with consequences that go beyond the short term and in some cases even irreversibly impact economic and social structures and the environment. In the case of industrialized countries, disasters caused huge damage to the large stock of accumulated capital, whereas losses of human life are limited thanks, among other factors, to the availability of effective early warning and evacuation systems as well as better urban planning and the application of more strict building codes and standards. In developing countries, on the other hand, the number of deaths is usually high because of greater vulnerability brought about by the lack or inadequacy of forecast and evacuation programs; and although losses of capital might be smaller in absolute terms when compared to those in developed countries, their relative weight and overall impact tend to be very significant,1 even affecting sustainability.
Disasters may have natural origins or be man-made. However, their consequences derive from a combination of both processes; that is to say, from human interaction with nature and her cycles or systems. Not only do disasters occur frequently around the world, but it would seem that their incidence and intensity have been increasing in recent years. They cause the loss of many lives, directly and indirectly (primarily or secondarily), affect large segments of the population, and cause significant damage to the environment and large-scale economic and social harm.